Getty Images Landon Donovan celebrates with his teammates after the most significant goal in US soccer history.

Forget what this latest World Cup thriller might mean for soccer in this county.

Maybe, for a change, this run is all about what soccer can dofor this country.

This is one of those rare opportunities now for a team to elevate a nation. Soccer might not be our sport -- and, no matter how this story ends, never will be -- but it can give our national spirit a lift.

And let's face it: We could use one.

"This tournament always translates into positive energy around the world," said Tony Meola, a man who has seen that energy up close. "There are countries in a deep depression or at war who stop to watch."

Meola, the Kearny native who led the U.S. national team as a goalkeeper in the 1994 World Cup, had just watched the Americans stun Algeria with Landon Donovan’s goal in stoppage time. The team advances to play Ghana in the knockout round after the 1-0 victory, and if you care a bit about sports, you will relish the chance to focus on a story so different from the others making headlines.

The oil spill in the gulf that threatens a way of life for millions. The economic turmoil that has shaken the confidence of millions more. The wars that have claimed the lives of thousands.

"We have a lot on our minds right now," Meola said. "For at least an hour and a half, there are people in our country who can get caught up in this and forget about their worries for a while."

So make sure that flag is hanging from the front porch this weekend. Why not? This is an opportunity for us as Americans to puff out our chests in a sport that we seldom, if ever, get to do so.

This team has a legitimate chance to make as deep a run as it ever has. If it defeats Ghana on Saturday, it will play either South Korea or Uruguay. All three teams are beatable, even for a country that hasn't reached the World Cup semifinals since the Hoover administration.

You might not understand what offside means -- and that's okay, since neither do the officials -- but you know a good story. This has all the makings of one.

No matter what happens, nobody can say what happened on the field in Pretoria, South Africa, was boring.

Nobody can argue that the lack of goals, the usual lament about what keeps soccer from becoming a mainstream sport in this country, kept this knockout game from being sports at its best.

There were a dozen blown chances, each more agonizing than the last, as time clicked away on the clock.

There was another wrongly disallowed goal, one that should have given the U.S. its 1-0 edge early.

Tab Ramos, a Harrison native who played with Meola on the biggest stage, watched as shot after shot sailed wide or into the arms of the Algerian goaltender, and feared the worst.

"I thought it was the typical game when you have so many chances," he said, "and never win."

This game was two minutes away from another ho-hum moment for the sport's history in this country, another reason for soccer haters to point and giggle. You could almost hear the wisecracks if the U.S team was sent packing after three unsatisfying draws.

Well, at least we were undefeated!

But as the fate of a Jersey-born coach, Bob Bradley, hung in the balance, a Jersey-born keeper snared a shot and started one final fastbreak. Tim Howard delivered the pass perfectly to start the rush, and one more player with Jersey ties -- former Red Bull Jozy Altidore -- sent the cross toward the net.

The first shot off the foot of Clint Dempsey was stopped by goalkeeper Rais Bolhi, but star Landon Donovan slammed in the biggest goal in U.S. soccer history from point-blank range.

Donovan slid across the field as if on an imaginary slip-and-slide to start the American celebration, and a few thousand miles away, if this didn't make you pound the desk in your cubicle or stifle a scream in the boardroom, nothing will.

Meola let out a yell of his own in his house.

Hours later, his cell phone was clogged with text messages from friends, some whom don't know if a soccer ball is inflated or stuffed, but all caught up in a massive moment for the sport.

"If you can't like soccer now, after watching that game, you're never going to," Meola said. "You can hate the sport, and that's okay. You can't find anything negative about what the U.S. team did to fight back like that."

We keep looking for one watershed moment that's going to elevate soccer to the mainstream, and it isn't going to happen. Pele and the Cosmos didn't do it. The '94 World Cup in U.S. stadiums didn't do it. The sport continues to make steady strides, both in the number of Americans playing the game recreationally and the number of recognizable U.S. stars.

This tournament isn't going to make us exchange our Yankee jerseys and NFL Sundays for a shin guards and Red Bulls tickets. But that doesn't mean it can't capture us for a couple weeks.

That doesn't mean it can't bring a positive feeling to this country at a time we sorely need it. This resilient U.S. team plays Ghana on Saturday, four long-shot wins away from the championship.

You don't need to understand soccer to know a good story. And this has all the makings.

Steve Politi appears regularly in The Star-Ledger. He may be reached at spoliti@starledger.com, or follow him at Twitter.com/NJ_StevePoliti